Is the new CE any different?

We had decided to go to the Kund Park for a picnic. The kids were
excited, so, with the usual Alloo Parathas, milk and tea etc.,we set off about
9 O'clock in the morning of Thursday 2nd December (1999).

On reaching Nowshera we found the road blocked by a posse of soldiers and (for once!) smartly turned out policemen. Now Nowshera is an odd little town, the G.T Road, (main highway) passes right through the middle of the Cantonment.
So the roadblock came as a surprise. In these unsettled times I, of course,
thought there must be mischief afoot; asking why the traffic was being
diverted, had a coup within a coup taken place? The policeman informed us
that (retd.) General Musharraf, CE of Pakistan (the Chief Martial Law
Administrator, if Martial Law had been declared) was visiting Nowshera and
so, common citizens of this great and wonderful country were not allowed
in. The main highway was off limits.

The detour took us to Nowshera City, where I saw the boundaries of the
Cantonment guarded by soldiers and policemen. It seemed strange to find
that the 'Saviour' of Pakistan had to be protected from those he is saving and
at such lengths!!

In Ayub Khan's martial law we had the VIP culture, in the late unlamented
Zia ul Haq's period of tyranny we cultivated the VVIP culture; now it seems
we are to make progress. In the (non) martial law of the 12th October 1999
we are to have VVVIPs. Traffic was stopped for the VIPs; roads were
blocked for VVIPs and whole towns are cordoned off for VVVIPs!

Then, "The News" (3rd. December 1999) informed the world of how 'kind' the
CE was to the Army men who had stood by the Prime Minister after he had
sacked General Musharraf. The families of General Ziauddin and Brigadier
Javed Malik (confined in an unknown place) continue to roam freely,
'enjoying' life with all the perks and privileges that went with the status of
the 'confined' gentlemen. The News was overawed by the CE's magnanimity for his own. I don't understand why they are surprised; after all, the army has always been the 'sacred cows' of Pakistan. The news item further mentioned that Brigadier Javed Malik was not going to be proceeded against in the 'kidnapping' and 'intent to kill' case of the infamous flight PK 805 (of 12th October 1999). That is kindness indeed, but is it justice?

If A, B and C are to be tried for a 'crime' in which D is also involved, then
should not D be charged as well? Are only the civilians who are to be
punished for wrong doings?

Atif Yusufzai reports in the Frontier Post (3rd December 1999) that the
driver of an oil tanker was arrested for a traffic violation in Mardan while on
army duty. A couple of soldiers in civvies went to free him but a violent
quarrel resulted and they were detained in the police station. Maj. Gondal,
on hearing of the 'insult', was infuriated. Leading 30 of his men from the
Punjab Regiment and using heavy guns he stormed the A Division Police
Station in a commando-like operation, "strategically brilliant but a
diplomatic disaster". One cop was killed and a dozen policemen and soldiers
were wounded. Some cops were taken as 'prisoners of war'. An eyewitness
is reported to have said that the soldiers had vowed to 'teach the local police
a lesson for touching their colleague.' I guess the police didn't realize they
have been denigraded to a second-class citizenship, as has the rest of the
civilian population.

The army is calling the shots now; it is they who decide what is right and what is wrong; what is admissible and what is not; who is a criminal and who is not; what laws may be broken and what may not; who may be forgiven and who punished.

Recently the CE (retd.) General Musharraf was in Peshawar and a delegation
of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce called on him (November 27th. 1999,
Frontier Post). Imagine the shocked dismay of the women of Pakistan when
they heard that Ghulam Sarwar, the father of Samia Imran, was one of the
chosen few who had been personally invited by the CE to meet him.
(Ghulam Sarwar is the man who had engineered his daughter's murder in a
recent high profile 'honour' killing). But then, the definition of 'Human
Rights' may be undergoing a transformation in Pakistan. Shaheen Sardar, a
champion of Human and Women's rights accepted with alacrity the 'challenge' of working for the 'rights' of the downtrodden from within the Martial law (that is, the martial-law-that-isn't a martial law, an anomaly if ever I heard one).

Ms Shaheen returned to Pakistan post haste; took the oath to serve the
country honestly and faithfully. Then returned to the UK for a week, a full
minister. I wonder, is her short trip at the expense of the exchequer?
Couldn't she have wound up her affairs and then taken her oath as minister?
Being an ex-army man, (retd.) Lt. General Muhammad Shafique the new
NWFP Governor, was confident no one was going to change his mind about
him, so he calmly proceeded to complete his plans of performing Umra
before being sworn in.

Afrasaib Khattak (Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan)
turned down a slot in the 'cabinet' since martial law was at variance with his
idea of Human Rights. Mr. Qazilbash promptly resigned when he realized he
was to be an ineffectual Minister, merely window dressing for the West. On
the other hand, official residences are being prepared and refurbished for
some new ministers who are preparing to leave their own homes (in the
same town) in order to live at the expense of the Pakistani taxpayer.

Different strokes for different folks!